Inside the deepest, darkest night,
An eerie presence unexplained.
Abstruse dreams jolted with a fright,
My booming heart alert and strained.
A feeble light; my sole defence,
While choked screams fade in cold silence.
Malevolence seeks to devour,
Disquieted souls in this dark hour.
Copyright © 2011 Norma Martiri
Form: Rispetto
The rispetto is a classic Italian form composed of only eight lines in two quatrains. All lines are written in iambic tetrameter, with a rhyme scheme of abab ccdd. The distinguishing characteristic of this form is the change in rhyme scheme from alternate line rhyming in stanza one to rhyming couplets in stanza two.
Poetry and Icecream 
This is incredible I love it. I would love to try this form but iambic pentameter will forever allude me
Thanks heaps. I have to push myself to try new forms and it’s amazing what you learn from it 🙂
OMGoodness…. I enjoyed this very much but, I got lost in your notes about it’s form and such. I am hopeless at retaining all that info and ‘rules’ lol
Thanks so much. It’s a challenge but I love challenges 🙂
This is great, Norma. I had never heard of a rispetto before, but meter and rhyme come pretty easy to me. It’s late right now, but I’ll give it a try tomorrow. With my recent creepy poem, I might try lighter theme . . . angels I think.
Thanks Mike. You and I must have been on the same wave length yesterday. This is the first dark poem I’ve written and I quite enjoyed it 🙂
After visiting here last night, I went online to research the Rispetto a bit more; thought I’d read a few to get the flavor. At Poetry Soup, http://www.poetrysoup.com/poems_poets/poems_by_form_read.aspx?DataSet_poems_currentPage=0&Form=Rispetto, “The Witching Hour” was the first poem listed out of thirty. It was also the best example (most true to form) of the thirty listed.
Thanks so much Mike, I’m honoured 🙂
Liked the form and rhyme theme. I wanted to highlight a particular line, but they are all great. But these lines were powerful and set the mood for me:
An eerie presence unexplained.
Abstruse dreams jolted with a fright
Wonderful, I felt these lines in particular.
Thanks for your very encouraging comments. I really appreciate it 🙂
[…] a comment from a new Aussie friend, Norma Martiri, I paid a visit to her blog, https://normamartiri.wordpress.com/2011/08/19/1580/. Her latest poetry post was a delightfully dark […]
Thanks Mike. So much appreciated 🙂
Very eerie, reminds me of a computer game from my teenage years (Silent Hill)
The final two lines were especially powerful and so vivid, really drew me into the poem
Thanks so much for your encouraging review 🙂
Vividly dark and brooding. Well done!
my offering this week: http://charleslmashburn.wordpress.com/2011/08/25/she-sat-alone-2/
Thanks so much Charles. Very much appreciated 🙂
Very interesting stuff… 🙂
Here’s my entry this week: http://wp.me/p1hI0l-7w
Thanks heaps 🙂
Fascinated by the rispetto and will have to go read up on that (you actually explained it in a way that made sense to me too, which is highly appreciated). Also loved the sentiment of the words… Inspirational!
Thanks heaps. It’s an interesting form isn’t it? Let me know when you’ve written a rispetto so that I can check it out 🙂
I really like this, wonderful words and a well-established mood and tone. Thank you for the information on ripostos – I will have to try this out! :o)
You’re welcome and thanks. Let me know when you’re done and I’ll check yours out too 🙂
impressed by your talent,
wow.
🙂
Aww thanks so much. I’m touched 🙂
Very Nice Poetry with an amazing Imagination
Great Work of Creativity !! Highly Expressive !!
It was indeed enjoyable after reading this one !!
!!! Happy Rally !!!
Cheers !!
Thanks so much 🙂
come to think of it… I’m reading your poem at this very witching hour I suppose… at 315am!
I could imagine myself being watched right now.. whoah! i scared myself..
beautiful poem! ;]
Lol, sorry the poem scared you. Thanks for reading 🙂
after a long time..I read poetry 🙂
Thanks for reading Maitreyee 🙂
Nice ebb and flow. I’ve felt that way in the dark of night.
Good poem.
Thanks debi. Much appreciated 🙂
Two words… “I’m lost…” wow this piece is great! As I read the lines there are these pictures I seem to have in my mind. Thanks for such a wonderful piece 🙂
Thank you for your lovely review 🙂
Mike Patrick suggested I read this! Love it!!! I am merely a kindergarten student in this art. You are very talented! Thank-you for sharing! I also love his poem Old Ink which was inspired, I believe, when he read this! I do most of my writing in ‘The Witching Hour’:)
Aww thanks so much, I’m touched and I’m glad you liked my poem. Yes, Mike’s poem is great too 🙂
Thank you so very much for your thrilling rispetto. I enjoyed it immensely.
http://kaysalady.wordpress.com/2011/08/30/my-mind-is-frozen/
Thanks Kay, much appreciated 🙂
Cool poem. Thanks
Thanks Dave 🙂
Dark and ripping words… Also I must admit I looked up the word abstruse!
Thanks Leonargo. Much appreciated 🙂
Magnificent dark poetry!
Thanks magher1 🙂
Dark… yes… but so much more. Imagery and emotion, though not cloying make this an intriguing piece. Nicely done!
Thanks Kim for your thoughful comments. Much appreciated 🙂
Oh yes .. a new form to learn: rispetto. Well done .. I enjoyed it very much.
A bit of the macabre just in time for Halloween.
Outstanding,
Isadora
Thanks Isadora 🙂
This is very good Norma, well written.
Thanks so much Dennis. Much appreciated 🙂
I can see this being set to music! Maybe a three part motet — Ars nova style!
Great idea! Thanks 🙂